The pundits had written the Indian ODI team off even before the series had got rolling. Largely due to the disappointing performance of the Indian batsmen against the duo of Mendis and Murali in the test series which India lost 2-1. But Dhoni’s men have gotten used to being the underdogs before the start of a series and yet emerging triumphs at the end of it. The ODI series down under early this year was one such example. But the side filled with young rising talent was a treat to watch in this series a they went from strength to strength and managed to pull off the series even with a match in hand. Even in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag both of whom had to pull out due to injuries, the Indian bench made up for their absence.
A victory in Sri Lanka is always sweet. The last bilateral series in Sri Lanka had India face an embarrassing defeat of 3-0 and confirmed the fact that taming the Sri Lankan lions in their own backyard is not such a frivolous task. But finally India succeeded in triumphing in an ODI series here and this success can be attributed to the team work and the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Right from calling the coin correctly, Dhoni has not set a foot wrong in this series. He led from the front especially in the last two matches in Colombo. But what is important to note is the way he motivated the team after the embarrassing loss in the first one dayer in Dambula. The Indian team was expected to lose this series badily as none of the batsmen had any experience whatsoever against the duo of Mendis and Murali and that too on spinner friendly tracks in Sri Lanka. But the young Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and even Badrinath applied themselves to the early swing of the experienced Vaas and against the guile of Mendis and Murali. They applied themselves, used their feet and were not scared of hopping down the pitch in order to counter the spin. During the test series it was just one batsman Sachin Tendulkar who had tried to get aggressive against the spin duo. But in the one day series it was all the batsmen who went aggressively against the Sri Lankan spinners and emerged triumphant at the end.
But the primary reason why the Indians have got the series in the bag has been the success of the Indian bowlers. The pace bowlers Zaheer and Praveen kumar have always picked up wickets with the new ball. Right from pitching the ball in the right areas to getting early break throughs, the Indian pacers have laid the foundation for Harbhajan to come and clean up the tail. Even the fifth bowler in the form of Yuvraj Singh has picked up wickets at regular intervals.
The series win against Sri Lanka would come as a huge sigh of relief for the thousands of the Indian fans who had given up after the test series. But this win will do wonders to the confidence of the Indian ODI team who has just started a fresh innings under the reign of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has appeared to be calm and unperturbed even when faced with tremendous pressure. The Indian team can only get better from here and after the infusion of Sachin and Sehwag at the top of the order, this team will have the perfect mix of flamboyant aggressive youth and dependable experience.
It could not have been scripted better. Tendulkar made his debut in the IPL, with his team Mumbai Indians having won three matches consecutively. But in order to make it to the Semis, they had to keep the momentum going. After restricting the Chennai Super Kings to a modest total of 157 due to some disciplined bowling up front by Pollock and Nehra but since then the night belonged to Jayasuriya.
He had been getting starts in the tournament but had barely converted them. This was the day when Jayasuriya had been waiting for to prove his worth to the team. Till the match against Chennai, he had been opening with different partners and the opening partnership never used to go past a few years. Opening with Sachin probably gave him the confidence to go berserk. The first six overs yielded 78 and by then the Chennai Super Kings knew that something had hit them hard. His flicks over Square Leg for six, his powerful cover drives and bottom hand jabs on the on side were a delight to watch.
Though on the other hand Sachin did not really make his dream debut but was more than happy to let Jayasuriya take the strike and demolish the opposition. Eleven sixes in an innings, second in the IPL only to Brendon Mecculum’s 13 in the first match against the Royal Challengers. The sheer arrogance with which he hit all the Chennai Super Kings bowlers all around the park was astonishing to see. In the belligerent mood that he was in, he did not even spare his previous team mate Muralitharan as he attempted twice to reverse sweep the Sri Lankan off spinner. If there is one player who can single handedly take the match away from the opposition with his explosive batting, it is Sanath Jayasuriya. And his team were aware that it would need just one innings to get him abck in form which he did in style.
The second fastest hundred of the tournament after Adam Gilchrist who had gone on a rampage against the Mumbai Indians a few matches back. But with Jayasuriya’s current performance the Mumbai Indians can be happy that their most explosive batsman is back in form and these are not good signs for the other teams. Jayasuriya’s knock was the first good score from a team who had till now struggled in the tournament.
But this innings would do a world of confidence to them as they would now make their move to try and reach the Semi Finals. For the thousands that had gathered to see Sachin bat, it would have been a dream come true to watch this innings of Jayasuriya. Mumbai Indians would also feel confident now as their batting looks more or less to be settled though the departure of Bravo will hurt them. Their next tie against the Kolkatta Knight Riders would be a vital one, as both these teams are fighting for a birth in the Semi Finals. It will be great to see King Khan back in Mumbai cheering his team at the sidelines. But the resurgent Mumbai Indians would be up for the challenge.
It is said, Cricket is a great Leveler. A young exuberant side led by MS Dhoni with almost no twenty twenty practice had shocked the World by winning the World Cup in South Africa. It was a team effort but the team did have its share of heroes. Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir with the Bat. Harbhajan and RP Singh with the ball. The World champions arrived at Melbourne to take up the Aussie challenge. The might of the Aussies had been humbled twice. But they were no the ones to take this lying down, even in the absence of Ponting and Hayden, it was a cake walk for the Kangaroos.
From an Indian point of view, it was a feeling of melancholy. Through out the Aussie summer this was one clash that was being anticipated. But, the Indian batsmen could not even last the stipulated quota of twenty overs, forget making a decent score. It was appalling to see Sachin Tendulkar sitting at the Dug out watching the wickets fall down like the bowling pins. Now we need to understand the importance of experience.
Look at the Aussie side, World Champions, the best team in tests and their recent win over India in Twenty Twenty makes them a force to reckon with. Australia have had great youngsters doing well in the Domestic circuit, but sadly there is no place for them in the international side. Guys like Hayden and Hussey had to wait till their thirties to make their respective debuts. Australia focuses on performance and form rather than age as a criteria to fetch the players their coveted baggy green.
It was the same old story yesterday. A batting collapse, we all have got used to. Sehwag with a poor choice of run. Gambhir and Utthappa trying to go over the in field even when they had barely gauged the bounce of the pitch. Karthick and Sharma falling to irresponsible shots. Dhoni trying to clear the field but only holing out to the fielder at Square Leg. And Indians could have been bowled out for the lowest total in twenty twenty ever, if it was not for a face saving knock from Irfan Pathan. The only Indian batsman who exercised some caution while batting.
Twenty Twenty is a game of fours and sixes, but remember the boundaries are still at the same distance and hence all the rules of Cricket apply. Whatever the format of cricket be, you just cant score from the first ball. You need to get yourself set first. Indian batsmen it seems were awed by the great occasion and this is where the experience of Sachin could have helped. And you cant really prove that guys like Karthick, Sharma or Utthapa are better players then Sachin.
The scene that caught my eye yesterday was the one in which, there was a spinner bowling to a number eleven batsmen with all the fielders crowding around the bat. Trust me, it may have been a hat trick ball but you will not ever see this happening again. This was hurting the pride of the Indians, as the Aussies have most certainly avenged their two earlier defeats.
The selection for the team had itself been a flawed one. With batsmen like Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman sent home, the Indians were looking for trouble. The Indians have a mammoth task in front of them if they are to win the series against Australia. The debate between experience and youth will continue. But if Sachin would have taken to the field, the result could well have been different.
Sourav Ganguly is sure to be in a quandary. He had registered one of the greatest comebacks into the Indian team. Scoring 1240 runs in ODI’s in the calendar year of 2007 at an average of 44, you could not have asked for more.
The Indian team were savoring the win at Perth when the bombshell was dropped by the selectors. Ganguly dropped from the team for the upcoming tri series against Australia and Sri Lanka. The in form Dravid and Laxman were ignored once again. The selectors seem to have made up their mind to go with youth for the ODI side. It might augur well for the Indian team in the future but in the present context, it could be disastrous for the Indian team.
The selectors could have made the announcement after the fourth test as there is gap between the tests and the ODI’s. Also there is a 20-20 match against the Aussies on February 1st, which the entire nation would be waiting for. But the team of selecters has acted as party poopers and has taken the sheen of the tremendous win at Perth. But perhaps the greatest impact it will have will be on the performance of the dropped players in the Adelaide test. Kumble will have his task cut out, in order to get Dravid and Ganguly to focus on the test match at hand which is a must win for the Indian side.
The selectors have infused youth into the side, dropping all the seniors except for Tendulkar. Ganguly has been replaced by Suresh Raina. Now, Raina last played an ODI in January 2007, more than an year back. His form in the domestic season last year wasn’t something to be proud of but yet he has found his way into the ODI squad in place of Ganguly. Ganguly had been the in form batsman for India as he made consecutive hundreds against Pakistan in tests and had looked one of the few composed batsman in the side in Australia. But yet he has been unceremoniously dropped. Is it the end of the road for Ganguly atleast in ODI? Only Ganguly can make the decision and it wont be an easy one.
We have an ODI squad which is similar to the 20-20 squad that had won the World Cup. But can these youngsters repeat their magical performance against the World Champions in their own backyard? There has to be a balance between youth and experience in the side which the selectors have not adhered to. And the high profile ODI series could definitely not be used for experimenting. The theory of being ‘in form’ in order to be selected seems to baffle me completely. If there was one player who has woefully out of form on the Aussie tour, it was Yuvraj Singh who barely troubled the scorers in the first two test matches. Dhoni too had not looked particularly confident against the rising ball. But both these players have been retained as vice captain and captain respectively. Virendra Sehwag has retained his place in the ODI side after a good performance in the Perth test. But is a single performance enough to cement your place in the ODI side? IF yes, then Ganguly gave us some of the best performances of his career last year. Why wernt they considered?
The only legitimate thing that could have gone against the former Indian captain is his fielding prowess or the lack of it. Ganguly is definitely not the most agile fielder on the park and he would be the first man to accept it. But, if fielding was all to be considered then with due respect Glenn Mcgrath, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram and Inzamam ul haq would never have played for their sides, forget being the all time greats to represent their country. And Sehwag who has been chosen in the side, is not a terrific fielder too.
Ganguly should consider himself really unfortunate for it was his last tour to Australia and would have wanted to make the most of it. It might well signal the end of the road for the Prince of Kolkatta, a young prodigy who with his sheer grit and determination had scripted the best story of comebacks in Cricket at the age of 34. Dhoni may have got his desired team for the series, but it will be interesting to see if his bunch of young boys can perform against the mighty Aussies. And don’t be surprised if after a couple of failures, Sachin Tendulkar will find himself missing from the ODI side. In Indian cricket, anything can happen.
If there were any devils in the pitch as predicted by the pundits, they were to be seen only on the second day of the test match as the Aussies were bundled out for a mere 212. The swing bowling by the Indian pacers would have even made the Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram proud and the famed Aussie batting line up was left in the lurch. But the day belonged to Anil Kumble, the mechanical engineer of yesterday and the Captain and Man Manager of yesterday accomplished the feat of taking 600 test wickets.
Anil Radhakrishna Kumble has started off as a young bespectacled spinner in the 1990 season. Unconventional by nature he was written off by all his critics. From his first wicket of Allan Lamb to his 600th yesterday, the great Indian spinner has come a long way. He has been the leading Indian bowler ever since the departure of Kapil Dev. Time and time the Indians have relied on him to get the first breakthrough and he has almost always delivered. Kumble reached this landmark in just his 124th test even quicker than Shane Warne. With only Warne and Muralitharan in front of him, we could well see Kumble taking 700 test scalps by the time he hangs up his boots.
Kumble’s value to the team comes to light in the following facts. He has taken one third of the wickets Indians have taken at home in the past eighteen years. Whenever Anil takes a 10 wicket haul in a test, the Indians have never lost a test match. He has claimed 50 wickets or more in a year thrice in 1999, 2004 and 2006. He defied all odds when he bandaged his fractured jaw during a test match against West Indies to deliver a telling blow and claim the prized wicket of Brian Lara. Not to forget his marathon spell of 72 overs against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1997. His wily flippers and googlies have bamboozled batsmen world wide and has earned him the respect of all ex players as well.
In his long untiring tenure as India’s premier spinner, Kumble has done it all. Taking diving catches at the gully position, scoring a hundred at Lords and taking all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan. Anil Kumble the giant killer or the smiling assassin, whatever you may call him has been an invaluable gift to the Indian team, one which we would even cherish long after he’s gone.
For in his corner stood perseverance, aggression and dignity, great human qualities if you are searching for a role model. In the last month, his tremendous Man Management qualities have surprised many. Captain courageous dealt with the Racism Row in the best possible manner. Standing by his team mate throughout the fiasco and then extending the olive branch to Ricky Ponting regarding Hogg’s abusing issue, Kumble has turned out to be the best man at the helm of the affairs.
If there was one player the Indians would sorely miss after his retirement, it would undoubtedly be Anil Kumble. Not because he is a great bowler, but because there will never be anyone who could fill this massive void in the Indian team. If there was ever a list of unsung heroes in Indian Cricket, this man would top that list. It is time to acknowledge the genius of this man. His determination, his will to perform despite all odds has made him a paragon of virtue. It is time for Kumble to deservingly revel in the glory and for all us mortals to stand up and salute him.
In all probability, even before the series began, the Indian think tank would have decided to rest Harbhajan for the third match, and bring in a fast bowler in his place. Fate had other ideas though. The recent events in Sydney involving racism have thrown all prior planning out of the window. The Indian team has fought tooth and nail to clear Bhajji of all allegations. After staying back in Sydney, and going through a myriad of emotions for matters not directly related to cricket, will the Indian team actually go ahead with their plan of resting Harbhajan for the WACA test? What kind of message will it send out to the Australian team, and the world? That we complained, fussed, and created all the brouhaha and got a ban lifted, only to personally drop him? Unfortunately, in a country where sentimentality rules over most issues, that is not going to be the case.
It all boils down to this: The entire Sydney episode has meant that Harbhajan will play at Perth. That will mean an attack having two spinners, on a pitch where many sides field none. A third seamer is a necessity at Perth, and that opens up the door for one of the benchwarmers on this tour so far. A fit Zaheer would have been ideal for India, but now they need to field an inexperienced fast bowling lineup. Conditions at the WACA will be ideal for VRV Singh, but playing Harbhajan as well as an extra fast bowler will mean that the Indians end up with an extra-long tail. So, there’s only one choice left : Irfan Pathan.
Pathan’s inclusion in the side will help strengthen the batting just a little bit, as well as the bowling. He might as well open the batting as his performances cannot be worse than that of Jaffer at the top. This obviously implies that Sehwag or Karthik will not get a chance, as Pathan will be usurping that place.
So, with three fast bowlers and two spinners, India will head into the Perth test. There is a practice game before that, but no one expects any surprises as to what the team for the third test will be. It will be interesting to see what the Indian team does : will it go the practical way and rest Harbhajan Singh and include a pacer in his place? Or will sentimentality rule and we will end up seeing an imbalanced side waiting to be steamrolled in three and a half days? It seems the “victory” at Sydney has opened up a very serious predicament.
It was a day that any cricket fan would love to forget but the repercussions of the day would continue to haunt us in the days to come. Harbhajan Singh’s ban for three tests is the first ever ban for Racial Abuse in this so called, ‘Gentleman’s Sport’. Racism has always been prevalent in the Western countries where the Asians and Africans were subjected to racial abuse. But now, countries have started reporting incidents of Reverse Racism.
Harbhajan Singh’s offence falls under 3.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct which refers to players or team officials “using language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, gender, colour, descent, or national or ethic origin”.
It is alleged that Bhajji has been convicted by the Match Referee for racial abuse for the usage of the word. ‘Monkey’. There had been similar chants at the Wankhede stadium when a few Indians had been convicted of making monkey chants and gestures. Now which country doesn’t get to face racial abuse. Ask the Subcontinent players when they tour Down under what all they get to hear from the players as well as the crowds. Ponting has made a mountain out of a mole hill and blown the issue out of proportions. And it isn’t a proven fact yet because there is absolutely no video or audio evidence to substantiate this allegation.
Ponting’s men Clarke and Hayden have testified against Bhajji saying that they heard this word being said. On the other hand Tendulkar who was present at the pitch when the incident occurred has categorically denied such a word being said. Without any evidence if someone’s word can be taken seriously then this game would become a breeding ground for false claims being the norm in all matches. The battle on the field would transcend into a battle in the Courts. Ponting would very well know what the real motive of getting Bhajji banned was. He would not want to be humiliated again by getting out to the Indian Turbanator.
Whose word are we taking. Oh yes. Michael Clarke. The same man that stood his ground when he was clearly caught at first slip of the bowling of Kumble hoping that another blooper from the perennially erring umpires be on their way and the same man who appealed for Ganguly’s catch when after turning from the dive had clearly touched the Ball to the ground. Ponting, it seems in his hunger for the sixteenth win forgot all the Sportsmanship that he used to possess when he appealed vociferously for a catch that was not clean by any means.
Ponting had gestured to Sharad Pawar after winning the ICC Champions trophy in India. Such is the arrogance in this man or you could call it lack of respect which he possesses. There had been a large hue and cry against this incident in India. Pawar has a strong political following and all of that was upset with Ponting’s gestures. But the Aussie captain was indifferent to it all. Even Gilchrist’s spirit of playing the game would come under the scanner when he appealed against Dravid. He had the best angle and would have known that the bat was far behind the pad and not close to the ball what so ever.
The game has taken a very murky turn. With the Indians claiming that Hogg had abused them during this test match, the hearing of the Aussie spinner is scheduled today and the Indian players will testify against him. Will Hogg face a similar ban? Maybe not, because he is an Aussie. Australians are World Champs and may get away with things they do on or off the field. Even the Aussie media is on the Indian side as they applauded Kumble when he said, “Only one team played the match in the right spirit”
Whenever Indians are hard done in this sport, there are protests all over. But after a few days everyone gets on with it. But this time BCCI will have its muscle to ensure that Justice prevails. The Australian tour Down Under has already become Down Blunder because of the shocking decisions made by the umpires. Even our Bunty and Babli could have fared better than Bucknor and Benson. Bucknor has already been taken off the Perth test. It waits to be seen whether Benson will officiate in that test or not.
The Indians should stay put and not even think of returning home. They can be proud of themselves even for they way they played the match. We are proud of them. They should give it back to the Aussies in the test matches to come. Australians on the other hand may have won the Test match but have not won the hearts of millions of viewers watching the Match.
Sachin’s love affair with the Sydney Cricket Ground continued as he made his 38th test hundred and his 8th against Australia. He has a whopping average of 326 at SCG. As a young eighteen year old, he had struck his first ton here. His double hundred last time around was arguably his best knock ever. One in which we saw Sachin leaving almost everything outside the off stump and scoring heavily on the On side. Yesterday’s innings was a long awaited one. A billion plus Indians would have heaved a sigh of relief as Sachin caressed the ball through the off side to reach this record landmark.
In this innings, we saw a more mature Tendulkar, ready to put the bad ball away but treating the good ones with utmost respect. He played his trademark drives through extra cover and powerful square cuts through the square region. Perhaps a first in tests, we saw him scooping over the gully and the slips. He scored most of his boundaries in the third man region taking advantage of the fact that it was left vacant. He was particularly aggressive against Hogg hitting him for a straight six over Long on early in the morning. Hogg had earlier dismissed Sachin in India and had asked for his autograph on the ball. The little master had conveniently written on the ball, “It wont happen again Hoggie”
Apart from the resilience and the determination,that the master blaster showed in this innings, another heartening thing was the way he treated the tail Enders. Showing full faith in their batting abilities, he was ready to take a single even on the first ball off the over. This did wonders to their confidence as the last three wickets added 186 to the Indian total and helped India to get an invaluable first innings lead of 69. Harbhajan Singh in particular delivered lusty blows to score 63 falling just 3 short of his highest test score. Ganguly had earlier played an aggressive knock of 67 before falling to Hogg yet again. Dhoni and Yuvraj meanwhile have barely troubled the scorers in this series. The bounce of the pitch did Dhoni while Yuvraj was caught plumb in front of the stumps playing across the line. Lee finished with figures 5 for 119 and was undoubtedly the best Aussie bowler.
Australian Prime minister Kevin Rudd made his way into the commentary box and was happy to see Indians fighting back. He went on to congratulate Sachin on his brilliant knock. Australian PM, a great sports lover. But how often would we have an Indian PM commenting on Cricket on TV? Not likely in the near future.
The day definitely belonged to Sachin Tendulkar. A flawless ton, his 5th in Australia and 22nd away from home. An innings for all his fans to cherish. An innings that showed that the master blaster is still hungry and craving for more. And an innings which would bring to rest all the criticism that he faced. Tendulkar himself said, “It was a sigh of relief when I drove the ball through the covers on 98”. He remained unbeaten on 154* as India posted a mammoth first innings total of 532. These lines would symbolize what we all expect of Sachin in the future as retirement for now is a long way away.
Quoting from
‘Stopping by the Woods on a snowy evening’ by Robert Frost.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
The Australians were earlier dismissed for a mammoth total of 463 with Lee getting a fifty and Symonds remained unbeaten at a 162. Kumble wiped out the tail, picking up the last four wickets. The hosts had another umpiring decision going their way when Bucknor did not refer to the third umpire a stumping appeal made against Symonds. The replays completely showed that his foot was in the air, as the bails came off.
In the Indian reply, the majestic Laxman was at his wristy best as he came out in an aggressive mood to face the Aussie Bowlers. Jaffer, had no answer to the brilliant swinging yorker by lee. He flicked from outside off stump, drove straight down the ground and even pulled Clark and Lee behind square with ease. Laxman played his signature shots and reached his fifty off just 43 balls comprising off ten delightful boundaries. On the other hand, Dravid was defending everything on and outside the off stump and looked keen in only occupying the crease. Dravid played the sheet anchor role to perfection matching Laxman’s aggression with his defence.
Boundaries continued flowing from the bat of Laxman after tea. Dravid received a huge cheer from the 30,000 strong Sydney crowd when he finally managed a single after 38 dot balls. But, as Hogg came on to bowl even Dravid got into the groove playing aerial shots. Laxman on the other hand went on to complete his 12th test hundred in tests. No wonder, Aussies fear Laxman as four of his top five test innings have come against the World Champions. This was Laxman’s third consecutive ton at the SCG. Dravid meanwhile reached his fifty of 158 balls. But the 175 run partnership between Dravid and Laxman came to an end when Dravid was caught by Hayden at first slip off the bowling of Johnson. Laxman too got out against the run of play when he was caught at short cover of the bowling off Hogg.
Tendulkar(9) and Ganguly(21) were at the crease at the end of days play at 216/3 after successfully seeing out a spell of hostile bowling by Brett Lee. Indians would feel that they are well placed and can hope to cross Australia’s target of 463 tomorrow. Sachin has averaged a staggering 250 in his four test matches that he has played at SCG. In 2001 he got a double hundred here. Lee was the pick of the bowlers and was the only one who really looked like getting Laxman out. Hogg continued to trouble Ganguly with his wrong ones. Meanwhile, Gilchrist had a poor day behind the stumps, as he let off Dravid and Laxman when they were just getting settled. Ponting would be lauded for his sportsmanship when he didn’t claim the catch off Dravid at first slip.
The day belonged to Laxman. In this era of power hitting, it’s great to see a batsman having the sheer elegance as that of Laxman. One of the Indian top order batsmen had to go on to make a big score and it was Laxman who did it today. It was a Laxman Dravid partnership that had turned the series around in 2001 in India. This one didn’t match the Kolkatta one in terms of runs but certainly did in the amount of effort taken by the two batsmen in seeing of the new ball. Now the onus is on Saching, Ganguly and the rest of the batting line up to go on and make a big first innings big score and then we could well be looking at a historic test win at Sydney.
It was a good toss to win as the Aussie openers made their way on to the pitch. But the opening pair of Jaques and Haydin was sent back to the pavilion by RP Singh who was the premier Indian fast bowler in the absence of Zaheer Khan. Ponting and Clarke had a good partnership before both of them fell in quick succession to Harbhajan and RP respectively. Ponting might still say that he is not Bhajji’s Bunny but he continues to keep getting out to the Indian off spinner. Ponting did make a 50 but was out LBW to Harbhajan after scoring 55.
The Australians started the New Year with a dismal start and were in a fix at 134/6 when Symonds and Hogg got to recovery work. Recovery it was but full of aggression. Hogg showed that he was no mug with the bat as he cut and drove with ease against the Indian spinners. Hogg went on to make 79 before he finally fell to Kumble bringing an end to the largest 7th wicket partnership of 173 against any team at the SCG.
Meanwhile, the star of the day was definitely Andrew Symonds. Symonds was at his ferocious best as he launched an onslaught against the Indian bowling attack. His fore arm jabs over mid wicket, his powerful square cuts and his exquisite drives through Mid off were a delight for the crowd that had gathered at the opening day of the test. At the end of days play Symonds remained unbeaten at 137.
Indians can take heart from the fact that they had the Aussies under the mat with the first 6 batsmen having gone back to the pavilion without even posting 150 runs on the board. But as is the case with the Aussies, they once again slipped through the net thanks to Symonds and the Aussie tail. RP Singh in particular needs to be lauded for his four wicket haul as he got all the four left handers out and Ishaan sharma bowled his heart out but remained wicketless. The 19 year old had Symonds caught behind but for Steve Bucknor who didn’t hear the snick. Symonds made most of the poor decisions made by the umpires. He was earlier adjudged not out by the third umpire in a stumping appeal when the cameras clearly showed part of the foot raised in the Air.
At the end of the day, Aussies would feel that they have recovered well and are well placed at 376/7 with Symonds and Lee on the crease. The Indians would rue some poor fielding in the outfield after Tendulkar had taken great catches at first slip to dismiss Hussey and Hayden. Aussies are on course to making a big first innings total which could lead them to a record 16th consecutive test win matching Steve Waugh’s test win runs in 99-00. Coincidentally, Steve Waugh’s winning run had been brought to an end at Kolkatta in perhaps the best test match ever. Indians will need such performances if they need to break the Aussie record. Something that seems to be missing in this series is the Killer Instinct that the Indians needs to nip the opposition. Lets hope for a strong batting performance tomorrow and not the usual batting collapses that we have got used to.